Per-Kristian Foss

{{Short description|Norwegian politician (born 1950)}}

{{BLP sources|date=June 2012}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Per-Kristian Foss

| image = Per-Kristian Foss 20090913-1.JPG

| caption = Foss in 2009

| office= Second Vice President of the Storting

| term_start= 8 October 2009

| term_end= 30 September 2013

| president= Dag Terje Andersen

| predecessor= Position established

| successor= Kenneth Svendsen

| office1= First Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party

| term_start1= 9 May 2004

| term_end1= 27 April 2008

| leader1= Erna Solberg

| predecessor1= Erna Solberg

| successor1= Jan Tore Sanner

| office2= Second Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party

| leader2= Jan Petersen

| term_start2= 5 May 2002

| term_end2= 9 May 2004

| predecessor2= Anne Berit Andersen

| successor2= Jan Tore Sanner

| office3= Minister of Finance

| term_start3= 19 October 2001

| term_end3= 17 October 2005

| primeminister3= Kjell Magne Bondevik

| predecessor3= Karl Eirik Schjøtt-Pedersen

| successor3= Kristin Halvorsen

| office4= Member of the Norwegian Parliament

| term_start4= 1 October 1981

| term_end4= 30 September 2013

| deputy4= Ine Eriksen Søreide

| constituency4=Oslo

| office5= Leader of the Young Conservatives

| term_start5= 1 June 1973

| term_end5= 1 June 1977

| predecessor5= Jan Petersen

| successor5= Kaci Kullmann Five

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1950|7|19|df=y}}

| birth_name = Per-Kristian Foss

| birth_place = Oslo, Norway

| party= Conservative

| spouse = Jan Erik Knarbakk

| children =

| occupation = Politician

| signature =

}}

Per-Kristian Foss (born 19 July 1950) is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party and from 2014 to 2021 the Auditor General of Norway.

He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Oslo in 1981, and was re-elected on six occasions. He had previously served as a deputy representative during the term 1977–1981.

From 2001 to 2005, when the second cabinet Bondevik held office, Foss was Minister of Finance. He also acted as Prime Minister very briefly in 2002. During this period his seat in parliament was taken by Ine Eriksen Søreide. Foss has received much attention for being the first openly gay minister in a Norwegian government and lives in registered partnership with Jan Erik Knarbakk.{{Cite news |title= Norway names gay prime minister, briefly |url= http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?2002/01/25/2 |date= January 25, 2002 |work= Gay.com |publisher= PlanetOut Inc. |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080613183432/http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?2002%2F01%2F25%2F2 |archive-date= June 13, 2008 |url-status= dead }} He was the first openly homosexual national leader.{{Cite web|url=http://www.advocate.com/news/daily-news/2011/12/06/worlds-first-full-time-gay-male-leader-belgiums-elio-di-rupo|title=Worlds First Full Time Gay Male Leader Belgiums Elio di Rupo|date=6 December 2011}}

On the local level Foss was a deputy member of Oslo city council from 1971 to 1975.

From 1973 to 1977 he was the leader of the Young Conservatives (Unge Høyre), the youth wing of the Conservative Party. Per Kristian Foss was mentioned as a possible new leader for the Conservative Party after Jan Petersen resigned in 2004, but he declined to run and instead supported Erna Solberg.Carl A. Dahl: [http://www.dn.no/forsiden/article158559.ece Foss vil ikke lede Høyre] DN, February 2, 2004. Retrieved December 6, 2012 After Høyre struggled in elections and polls during the first years of Erna Solberg's leadership he was also mentioned as a possible new leader,[http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/politikk/Solberg---Foss-kan-vare-et-naturlig-navn-5575318.html Solberg: - Foss kan være et naturlig navn] Aftenposten, 2009/2011. Retrieved December 6, 2012 but he never challenged Solberg for the leadership position. At present Foss is deputy chairman of the Conservative Party and member of the party's central board.

Foss has a cand.mag. degree in political science, public law and criminology from the University of Oslo (1977) and partial graduate studies in political science.